In Photos: Mountain Moral Monday heats up in Pack Square

3,500 gathered in Pack Square Park on Monday to call attention to multiple statewide issues. (Hayley Benton/Mountain Xpress)

The Asheville Police Department estimated 3,500 people crowded into Pack Square Park at 5 p.m. on Monday, carrying signs expressing outrage against a number of local and state issues: women’s health, education, environment, water, equality and voting rights, among others. By 6 p.m., crowd estimates were reaching 5,000 and up.

Last year, the event was attended by 6,500 to 10,000.

Rev. William Barber, the president of the state NAACP, rallied the crowd following a number of moving speeches. The thousands in attendance roared in applause as he delivered each line.

“It does not matter what the critics call us,” he shouted out, as U.S., N.C. and LGBT pride flags waved. “You can call us a bunch of liberals; you can call us communists. But it’s not what you call us, it’s what we answer to. And we know who we are!

“We are black. We are white. We are Latino. We are Native American. We are democrats. We are Republicans. We are independents. We are people of faith. We are people not of faith, who believe in a moral universe. We are native. We are immigrants. We are business leaders. We are workers. We are doctors. We are the uninsured. We are gay; we are straight. We are students; we are retirees.

“We stand here, a quilt of many colors. We are united in our efforts to fight for the soul of our state. We know who we are.

“We are the mountains. We are the coastlands. We are North Carolina. We are America. This is what democracy looks like!”

Flickr slideshow may not appear on mobile devices.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Hayley Benton
Current freelance journalist and artist. Former culture/entertainment reporter at the Asheville Citizen-Times and former news reporter at Mountain Xpress. Also a coffee drinker, bad photographer, teller of stupid jokes and maker-upper of words. I can be reached at hayleyebenton [at] gmail.com. Follow me @HayleyTweeet

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

One thought on “In Photos: Mountain Moral Monday heats up in Pack Square

  1. Jake

    Well, at least the APD crowd estimate was properly characterized as “early,” i.e., 5pm. On the 11 o’clock news, WLOS reported 5,000, which would square more with how things looked at 6pm. A big rally, and a very enthusiastic one.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.